Facebook removes Conroy murder fan page?
Facebook appears to have removed a fan page stating that the phrase "someone should kill [Communications Minister] Senator Stephen Conroy" was "very illegal to say".
The page, entitled "Someone should kill Senator Stephen Conroy ... is very illegal to say" — was available 9am Monday, but appears to have since been removed.
The image the page used
(Credit: Facebook)
The page continued in its satirical tone that killing Senator Conroy would "only hinder, or possibly even HALT the Great Australian Firewall", referencing the minister's plans to introduce a mandatory filter to block "refused classification" material on the internet, something many groups have been vocal against, including search engine giants Yahoo and Google.
"SPREAD the message. Tell all your friends, and bring them in. There is A DISEASE in our land, where people would do harm TO SENATOR CONROY. We must MAKE people realise, that with HIM DEAD, it will strike a blow against the safety of our internet and our children," a message on the page said.
The page had around 50 "fans" when Google's cache last grabbed a copy of it on 9 April.
"Just a heads up that it's probably illegal to say that someone really, really should kill Senator Stephen Conroy before he turns this country into a fascist *hole like Iran," the description on the Facebook page said.
The page, including the picture that accompanied it, insinuated that someone should actually murder the minister, especially the image which darkened the colour of the words "don't" and "not".
Facebook was contacted for comment but had not replied at the time of publication.
So was it a good idea for Facebook to remove it? I think so. It was fairly obvious that the page wanted exactly the opposite of what it was saying — Conroy six feet under. Despite any policies the minister might be espousing, nothing would warrant such drastic action. We are supposed to still be a civilised nation.